Princes of Air: The Blurb

Yesterday, someone asked for the cover blurb for Princes of Air. I don’t have the official blurb yet, but this is the one that I came up with for the query letter (have I mentioned I hate writing blurbs? And synopsi?)

Here ’tis, the unofficial blurb for Princes of Air:

Long ago, the Raven-Goddess Morrigan bore nine sons; each of them was gifted by their mother with the ability to change their shape and fly as ravens. Their mother charged them with the task of protecting the people of Eire, and gave them each a gift — the ability to recognize their one true mate.

Niall, the youngest of the nine, believes his mate lost forever, and discovers how wrong he is when he is taken captive by Arlaith, a power-mad woman who seeks to overthrow the High King. Arlaith’s plans unleash an ancient evil that threatens the people, the land itself, and any hope of happiness that Niall and his brothers might have.

The path to finding a mate isn’t always easy. The brothers soon discover that if they want to find the ones with whom they’ll spend the rest of forever, they’re going to need more than their mother’s gift — that is, assuming that they can manage to survive long enough to defeat an undead monster with a taste for immortal blood.

So, there’s a bit of a taste.  As we get closer to release date (and be sure I’ll let you know when that is!), I’ll get some excerpts up.

Posted by EASchechter in forthcoming works, new books, Princes of Air, 0 comments

Princes of Air cover!!!

I woke up this morning to find the cover for Princes of Air in my inbox.

Oh, me… this is really real, isn’t it? That’s my name and everything!

 

ETA: I now know the name of the artist who did this truly amazing cover. He is Lorenz Hideyoshi Ruwwe, from Germany.  Go send him some love!!!

Posted by EASchechter in cover art, happy-happy- joy- joy, Princes of Air, SQUEEE, 15 comments

Boost the signal! Fire Rottenberg!

Originally posted by [info]_samalander at post

TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE & RAPE CULTURE


Lara Logan, the CBS reporter who was separated from her crew while covering the revolution in Egypt and brutally raped by a mob of men is apparently to blame for her abuse because she once had cleavage. Right here, in black and white, Dan Rottenburg says that women who don’t want to be raped should stop going outside and wear turtlenecks.

Sign the petition to have Rottenburg removed as editor. Stay away from the comments: he refers to this as “avant guarde” journalism (I WAS JOKING!!!) and accuses the people who are angry of making mountains out of molehills and stopping conversation.

Posted by EASchechter in Boosting the signal, can't stop the signal, 0 comments

Thoughts on classic movies

I caught about ten minutes of Gigi this morning on TCM (before J. said “Mommy, I don’t want to watch that!” and we went back to Sesame Street). It’s been a while since I’ve seen this movie, and looking at it now, my mind is blown.

How did this movie make it past the censors in 1958? HOW?

You have Gigi, the main character. 15-years-old, and the daughter of a minor vocalist in the Paris Opera (and therefore, by the definition of the times, her mother is only a few steps up from being a whore herself– theatre women were NOT respectable), and there is a strong implication that Gigi is illegitimate herself (I cannot remember any reference to her father). Her family is poor, and there is absolutely no hope of her ever making a good marriage. So her grandmother is training her to be a courtesan.

This is the exchange that fascinates me. The censors let this through:

Gigi: You told Grandmamma that you wanted to take care of me.
Gaston Lachaille: To take care of you beautifully.
Gigi: Beautifully. That is, if I like it. They’ve pounded into my head I’m backward for my age… but I know what all this means. To “take care of me beautifully” means I shall go away with you… and that I shall sleep in your bed.
Gaston Lachaille: Please, Gigi, I beg of you! You embarrass me!
Gigi: You weren’t embarrassed to talk to Grandmamma about it. And Grandmamma wasn’t embarrassed to talk to me about it. But I know more than she told me. To “take care of me” means that I shall have my photograph in the papers. That I shall go to the Riviera, to the races at Deauville. And when we fight, it will be in all the columns the next day. And then you’d give me up, as you did with Inèz des Cèvennes.

And then there’s the bit where Gaston tells Gigi that if she is nice to him, he’ll be nice to her. Her response: “To be nice to you means that I should have to sleep in your bed. Then when you get tired of me I would have to go to some other gentleman’s bed.”

Again, I’m amazed. And I’ll need to go rewatch this movie sometime soon. After J. goes to bed, that is.

Posted by EASchechter in random thoughts, 0 comments

This was unexpected.

I woke up this morning with a plot-bunny in my head, thanks to a very interesting, very vivid dream. I already have a cast of characters and most of a synopsis.

What is most interesting about this is that it seems to be a YA plot-bunny.

Now, as I commented over on Twitter, YA is not my usual gig. So how did I end up with TWO YA novels on my to write list (the other one being that Rainbow one that I came up with for the Teach In last October)

I never thought I would ever attempt a YA. Now I’m going to try two of them. Wish me luck, folks! I will have to restrain myself mightily!

Posted by EASchechter in 2011 plans, a-writers-life-is-never-dull, 0 comments

School of Creative Writing. Is it a Scam?

It has been brought to my attention that one of my blog posts (one that I have since deleted) was copied whole cloth onto another website, along with a falsified Gravatar that made it look as if I had posted it myself. I have filed a DMCA notice with their hosting company, and the offending page has been removed. However, my name is still listed as being a writer connected with this site.

This is false.

I have no connection with the School of Creative Writing.  I have not submitted my writing to them, not have I ever posted any of my writing on their site. I am in no way affiliated with this so-called school. And quite frankly, I would be very suspicious of any creative writing school that resorts to stealing copy.

Posted by EASchechter in a-writers-life-is-never-dull, hypocrites-and-idiots-abound, someone-is-wrong-on-the-internet, 0 comments

My muse is a brat.

And as always, the minute I say I’m going to work on something, my muse tells me that I’m going in exactly the wrong direction.

What does that mean? It means that the world-building is on hold for right now, because the outline for Drum Mage is just about done, and the synopsis is started. At this rate, I’ll be ready to get this finished once school starts up again in the fall.

Posted by EASchechter in 2011 plans, Drum Mage, fickle-muse-is-fickle, writing, 0 comments

Midnight in the Garden of the To-Do list.

Right now, I think I’m going to give myself a break from novel writing and do the world building for Tales from the Arena. World building is always fun. And I’ve been looking forward to writing that universe.  That, and I still have no idea just where Drum Mage is headed. That outline needs to be redone before I can do any more.

To Revise:

  • House of Sable Locks
  • Princes of Air

To Write:

  • Drum Mage
  • Tales from the Arena
  • Sea Prince (To be written with Danielle Jones)
  • Wanderer’s Moon (next book in the Midnight Moon series.)

To Outline

  • Coral Throne (sequel to Sea Prince)
  • Hidden Things (Mystere Book 1)
  • Blood and Gaslight (Mystere Book 2)
  • Ashes and Light (Mystere Book 3)
  • Tablets of Stone (Mystere Book 4)
  • Rainbow Wars (the teach-in idea. May be YA. And it needs a better title)

To Sell

  • Nomad’s Moon
  • Exile’s Moon
  • Silk Skin (short story)
  • House of Sable Locks
Posted by EASchechter in 2011 plans, to-dos, 0 comments

Erase, erase, erase…

Chapter 13 — now with less handwavium! The initial rewrite of House of Sable Locks is, I think, done.

Posted by EASchechter in Sable Locks, writing, 0 comments

Final stats– House of Sable Locks

So, that’s a draft.

Total words: 89,188

Total Chapters: 14, plus  a prologue and epilogue.

Wait a minute, I hear you cry. That ending total is LESS than last nights total. What gives?

What gives is that when I outline my novels, I storyboard. So I have each chapter laid out with what happens. And I leave that in place when I write the actual novel, so minimize how many files my ancient laptop has to juggle. (I swear, inside this laptop is a little bird with a stone tablet, a hammer and a chisel.)

So the reason that the wordcount today is lower than yesterday is that I took out the storyboarding. Because it is FINISHED!

 

 

Posted by EASchechter in happy-happy- joy- joy, Sable Locks, Ta-da, wordcount, 1 comment